The Life of David Series: Hey Judah! Part 1

A woman dresses up as a prostitute and gets pregnant by her father-in-law in order to teach him a lesson about selfishness and doing one’s duty. And in so doing she sets in motion a series of events that lead to the birth of the greatest king in the history of Israel, and ultimately to the birth of the Messiah.

Welcome to Genesis 38, possibly the most skipped-over section of Scripture. Also, arguably, one of the most significant, especially as we begin a study into the life of King David.

Granted, this bizarre chapter might seem like a strange place to begin our study in the life of David, so let’s back up one chapter. This puts us at the beginning of the narrative of the life of Joseph – a far more familiar story. Here we read of Joseph’s jealous brothers conspiring to kill him. One brother speaks up and says that killing him could get complicated, so why don’t we just sell him as a slave to those merchants conveniently appearing over the horizon.

And that brother, who is willing to sell his own flesh and blood down the (Nile) river, is Judah.

It’s at this point that every self-respecting Sunday School teacher on earth skips chapter 38 and picks up the Joseph story in chapter 39. But that’s not what the Holy Spirit did. Rather, He continues with the narrative of Judah in a chapter that prominently features bodily fluids and a complete lack of political correctness.

So we need to ask ourselves “Why did God do this?” Could it be that this story has more to do with Judah than it does with Joseph? At the very least, I believe the Holy Spirit is saying “Judah is important to what is happening here.”

So let’s take a look, shall we?

When we pull aside all of the (to our modern sensibilities) bizarre elements of the story, here is what we find:

Judah, by denying the widowed Tamar her right to a descendant, is acting like the same old selfish Judah we met in chapter 37.

When Judah hears of Tamar’s pregnancy his harsh, reactionary death sentence is pulled up short when Tamar demonstrates to whom the child belongs. This is a “thou art the man” moment reminiscent of Nathan’s confrontation of David in II Samuel 12.

In what can be seen as a first step of repentance, upon being confronted, Judah acknowledges his sin – like his descendant David would do centuries later.

Further evidence of Judah’s repentance can be seen in when we next read of Judah, in chapter 43. Jacob’s sons need to go back to Egypt for food, and their unrecognized brother Joseph has required that they take Benjamin, something their father Jacob is unwilling to do. See Judah’s response:

Then Judah said to Israel his father, “Send the lad with me, and we will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and you and also our little ones. I myself will be surety for him; from my hand you shall require him. If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, then let me bear the blame forever.

This is a new Judah, taking personal responsibility for his brother’s safety. But does he mean it? In chapter 44 we have the answer. Upon returning to Egypt, Joseph arranges a test for his brothers, accusing Benjamin of having stolen a cup. When Joseph threatens to put Benjamin in prison Judah steps up and explains their situation, ending with this plea:

Now therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the lad as a slave to my lord, and let the lad go up with his brothers. For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come upon my father?

Note two important aspects of Judah’s appeal. 1) He is not concerned with himself, but with his father. Gone is the selfishness of the old Judah, and in its place a genuine concern for another. This is a sign that the repentance we saw in chapter 38 is genuine. 2) Notice that Judah offers himself as a substitute for the supposed sin of his brother. And here is the crux of the matter.

We are accustomed to see Joseph as a type of Christ in this narrative. He is an honored son, but leaves his honor and takes on the form of a servant, he is tempted but without sin, he is humbled and afterward exalted, and he saves his people. All this is true…and yet…

And yet there is a very important aspect of Christ’s ministry that is absent from Joseph’s career: He never offers himself as a sacrifice for the sins of others. Yet this aspect is an overarching theme of the Pentateuch. Abel’s “more excellent” sacrifice, the ram that substitutes for Isaac, the blood on the door at the first Passover, the entire sacrificial system of the tabernacle…God wants his people to know that in order to be redeemed from their sins there would have to be a sacrifice – an innocent victim paying the price for the guilty.

And here, before Joseph who is acting as judge, the innocent Judah offers himself as a sacrifice for the (supposedly) guilty Benjamin.

So when we read the Joseph narrative and include Genesis 38, suddenly chapter 44 becomes the climax of the story, and the point of the story becomes Judah becoming a foreshadowing of his distant descendant, Jesus Christ. And I think the Holy Spirit wanted to remind us of this when He inspired Matthew to begin his genealogy of Christ thusly:

Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.

So…this is a series on the life of David. What exactly do Judah and Tamar have to do with anything? Well sure, the obvious answer is that David is of the tribe of Judah. But why is that important? Stay tuned, because next week we’re going to dive more deeply into the significance of Judah. And these preparatory posts are going to lay a foundation to which we will return many times during our study of David.

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And be sure to read the action-packed adventures of Missionary Max: Missionary Max and the Jungle Princess and Missionary Max and the Lost City.